Perfect Blend
by Shinri Ayase
Summary: Some things are worth waking up to...AU, RanKen
1. Default Chapter

Disclamers: I own the following characters - Haneshi Midori, Nagi Yukime, Megane Mako, and Kyodai Toshio. Midori Aki belongs to herself. The rest of the cast belongs to Project Weiss.  
  
To Aki, who helped me develop the characters of this story...DOMO ARIGATOU GOZAIMASHITA! *bows profusely*  
  
Perfect Blend  
  
by Shinri Ayase  
  
Prologue: There Were Fireworks  
  
There were fireworks this year, the young man noted. Last year, Aki - his landlady and full-time friend - refused to buy fireworks when their original purchase of the novelties were destroyed by Schu and Youji in an incident involving jello, a straw, and a pair of bright purple thongs.  
  
...Come to think of it, he didn't want to think of _that_ incident. It was entirely too embarrassing, and it all happened in front of the kids he coached for soccer.  
  
He couldn't help but grin. Alright, so maybe it _was_ funny, even though he had to explain it to the kids' parents. His friends were starting to rub off on him after all, and he couldn't quite figure out if he should be worried about it.  
  
He tore his eyes away from the fireworks, regarding his friends with affectionate interest. Farf was engaging in another barbecue competition with Youji, who seems to be thoroughly amused by the fact that the former was starting the year in a state of lucidity, but not without homicidal tendency. Aki brought her laptop up to the rooftop, so she could join the festivities without having to be parted with her Kae-chan (Ken could swear that aforementioned laptop hated him in particular; Youji assures him that it hates everyone but Aki). Schu was...well, Schu was just passed out and slumped over the edge of the roof.  
  
On the whole, they were a happy bunch. A strange combination of randomly-selected psychoses, but still happy.  
  
Ken sighed, and remembered the circumstances of their friendship...  
  
******  
  
When he just turned thirteen, he went to a New Year's Party with his foster parents. It was at that party that he met Farf, who was then still going by his given name - Jei. The platinum-haired Irish lad was working as an errand boy for their host family, and Ken bumped into him as he went out for some fresh air.  
  
It was practically love at first sight. Ken, Farf would say seriously, blushed like a blessed maid while Ken would declare with embarrassment that Farf looked at him as if he were something yummy. They kissed as soon as the clock struck twelve.  
  
That was Ken's first kiss, and that was that. They officially became a couple on Valentines Day (Schuldig would often say it's cheesy up until he's reminded that he and Ken got together on the exact same date).  
  
However, Farf had made a habit of getting into street fights, and Ken got so worried about him that he started to lose sleep, thus affecting his performance in soccer. A year and a half into their relationship, Farf had decided he and Ken should break up, for the boy's own good. They decided to stay friends instead.  
  
They both met Schuldig on the New Year's Eve after Ken turned sixteen. Farf had dragged the poor teen into a strip bar in an attempt to make him less of a blusher. The German redhead was one of the dancers, and his act almost sent Ken into permanent catatonia.  
  
Schu, personally, thought it was cute and helped the two friends home. At the stroke of midnight, Schu kissed Ken to "make up for the mortifying display of unashamed lewdness". After that, Ken realized that the nineteen-year-old was stalking him. After a few clarifications were made, they ended up being a couple.  
  
That relationship, like the one Ken had with Farf, was not free of problems. Even though the German had quit stripping for Ken, he still frequented clubs. And he was rather public with their relationship, while the one with Farf was more subdued. Ken, being easily embarrassed, found it hard to adjust.  
  
So he and Schu decided to break up, after being together for a year. Of course, they ended up remaining friends, since they got used to hanging out together with Farf. By then, Ken's foster parents started to worry about the company the boy is keeping, but decided not to interfere - Ken seems to remain as kind and temperemental as he's always been.  
  
On the summer of Ken's eighteenth year, his team imported Aki Midori - Ken's reputed rival in non-pro soccer. They both debuted as goalies, after all, and both were "killers" on the field. However, she and Ken discovered a strange affinity with each other; they both seem to get sick at the same time and they know when the other's upset. Their team mates even began to call them the "Terror Twins" after noticing that the two looked a lot like each other, as well as apparently having the same age. She didn't start hanging out with him, however, until her older stepbrother came into the picture.  
  
Kudou Youji, Ken remembered thinking, has got to be the most gorgeous man in Japan. The soccer team decided to celebrate New Year's Eve together after Ken's nineteenth birthday, and the honey-haired Japanese man came to pick up Aki. After the girl bullied him into letting her stay until midnight, chocolate-tressed boy struck up a conversation with him.  
  
Again, Ken was kissed at the stroke of midnight. After that, Youji started coming by soccer practices more often and ended up being Ken's boyfriend number three on Valentine's Day.  
  
As you may very well guess, they screwed this one up too. Youji had a "hetero" playboy reputation, and he was hell-bent on keeping it. The paranoia started to get to Ken, too, making him lose his focus on his studies. After being called "bakas" by Aki, they decided to break up. The relationship only lasted six months. Nevertheless, Youji had taken to competing with Farf, and decided to stick with their merry little band.  
  
Not long after the breakup, Aki and Youji's parents sent them a letter informing them of their inheritance of a particular building. Delighted to find that it was a residential building, they all decided to inhabit it, and pretty much have fun with it.  
  
By the time Ken and Aki were twenty, the girl had a flourishing coffee shop she affectionately calls "Get Out", with Farf as her first employee. Youji had also set up a nice bar he calls "Flirt" next to it, while on the other side, Schu had set up a chocolate shop called "Aphrodisia".  
  
Life since then, Ken would smile, is like the name of the building: Evergreen Autumn.  
  
******  
  
"Kenken? Keeeeeenkeeeeeen!" Youji sang as he snapped his fingers in front of the young man's face. When the soccer coach finally blinked, the playboy teased him. "Mou, Kenken! Twenty-two's a little too young to have hearing loss!"  
  
"Leave him alone, Yotan," Aki said absently as she clicked a window open. "He's remembering how we got here."  
  
"We climbed the stairs," Farfarello said ever-so helpfully. Ken and Aki sweatdropped, but decided not to say a word. Schuldig managed to drag himself up to a more comfortable position.  
  
"I feel like something slimey climbed into my mouth and died," he moaned. "What happened?"  
  
"Three guesses," Aki said, rolling her eyes. "It starts with an A, ends with an L, and goes with the words 'isopropyl' and 'rubbing'."  
  
"Aristotle?"  
  
"..."  
  
"...that didn't even end with an L, Schu."  
  
"...go back to sleep, Schu," the girl groaned as she blew hair off her face.  
  
And then, they all began to laugh. It might be the alcohol, or maybe...  
  
"Minna, I'm going downstairs for a sec, okay?" Ken said as they finally caugh their breaths. "I want to double-check the locks."  
  
As he went on his way down, he heard the German say, quite loudly. "Hey, isn't it about that time?"  
  
******  
  
Ken was surprised to find a man leaning by the entrance of the building. The sight was unearthly, as the stranger had crimson hair (very much unlike Schuldig's orange shock) and pale skin.  
  
The tanned man was rooted to his spot for a few seconds, watching with horrified fascination as the man bled profusely from his head and his gut. Eventually, he summoned up enough presence of mind to rush over to the man.  
  
Ken had to admit - he was wrong. Youji wasn't the most gorgeous guy in Japan. This one was. And his heart stopped as the man looked staright at him with piercing, violet eyes.  
  
"No...Hospitals..." he croaked out. Before Ken could speak, his lips were captured.  
  
And there were fireworks, fireworks exploding in his very being. The clock, in the meantime struck New Year.  
  
TSUZUKU... 


	2. Author's Note

Author's Note: Domo arigatou to all of those who've reviewed the first part! I'm truly grateful for you comments and encouragement. However, the prologue was not the one I had intended to post - it was my drabble, and therefore took on the consistency of a piece written by a stream of consciousness writer on a hallucination-inducing five-cup coffee high. The actual prologue will be posted soon, but I will leave the one you have just read up as a reminder to myself that I should never leave a typed ficlet on the computer for more than two weeks, lest my brother decides out of impatience that it should be posted. Again, I thank you profusely.  
  
PS: Aki-san, think you for bothering to review this. ^.^ 


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